Disclaimer: All Valdemar related items in the below story are the possessions of Mercedes Lackey, not me.
After a few months of finding myself blocked from Elsa at odd moments by those silly visions I found myself wanting to actually do something. If we could stop the clan it might put a stop to the inconvenient things! At least for a short while anyway. As it turned out my chosen's strongest gift was in fact foresight, followed by mind-speech and mixed in with a touch of farsight. This of course only served to confuse Elsa when she tried to discern between it and foresight.
I sighed, magic class didn't hurt her any, but it certainly bored me. I spent just about every spare minute, and most of my minutes were spare, pondering the clan. It wasn't as if I could actually do anything; it was just that I wanted to. Elsa was my best distraction, not that she was a mere distraction. I enjoyed spending time with her, but anything was better than brooding.
Speaking of my chosen she was just walking up to me.
:Heyla! How are you my pretty little pony?:
:You're disgustingly cheerful today: I remarked blandly, I hadn't exactly slept well what with her visions, and a storm interrupting me.
:That's because we get to do something, finally:
:What?: I asked my bitterness and sloth erased by her comment.
:I think they are sending us on a circuit. I overheard a couple of heralds talking about it this morning. One of my teachers telling someone:
:Oh: I returned simply, and then I added slyly :naughty Elsa! Spying on your teachers:
:Not spying so much as …:
:Eavesdropping?: I added helpfully.
:Using my resources: She returned as if I hadn't said anything.
:So you really think we'll go?: I asked eagerly.
:Yes, my teachers are very interested in my foresight, they want to do something too. Besides I've pretty well finished with most of the curriculum … I mean I don't know everything, but enough:
:I hope the heralds agree:
:I can bluff it well enough.. If nothing else I know how to make them think I know what I'm doing; that's good enough:
:When will we go then?:
:I don't know … soon I hope:
:You and me both: I added with a sigh. Elsa sent me an overwhelming feeling of hearty agreement. We were bored, and we both chafed to go out and perform brave deeds of daring do. Or at least to stop the clan.
From there our conversation flowed into light teasing and daily matters. I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the evening before retiring to the stable, in out of the dark. Elsa laughed at that as she went to her supper.
Despite Elsa's surety that we would soon be on our first circuit it was nearly two more weeks of drudgery before she came to me with the news that she had been assigned a route for two days hence. I of course remained proper and reserved upon that announcement, if proper and reserved includes whinnying and crow-hopping about like a foal. I had every right to act foal-like though, we would finally have something constructive to do.
:You haven't heard the best part though: Elsa interrupted my frolicking, she sounded just as excited as I was though.
:What could be better than our first circuit?:
:The herald going with us … it's one of Calvin's friends, he was almost finished training when Cal got here:
:Him huh?: I poked.
:His name is Bartholomew, and he is extremely good looking:
:But let me guess … he's just a friend?:
She blushed a little, :Well not exactly, I haven't actually met him yet; but Cal says he's nice enough, and I've seen him around:
:Uh, huh … do I detect a crush? Elsa and Barty up in a tree …: I crowed joyously in her mind.
:Knock it off Asia, come on, I don't tease you like that!:
:Excuse me chosen? You don't tease me? Does 'remind your legs to run' ring any bells?:
:That isn't the same!: Elsa protested.
:Close enough: I insisted, yet I was glad. It would only make things easier is Elsa got on well with the herald we were traveling with. Just then a thought occurred to me :Who is his companion?:
:Oh, Cal said it was, um … Ralph, maybe?:
:Ralph?: I practically squeaked. Ralph who was practically ancient compared to me, well at least four years my elder. Ralph who had teased me and the other foals my age when we were barely past weanlings, and taught us where to find the best grass, not to mention mud tag. The same Ralph that all the fillies my age had pined over. No big deal, other than the fact that expressly written in my personal mission statement was that I would not in any way communicate with strangers, elders or former crushes. Ralph fit neatly into all three categories.
:Ralph?: I repeated dumbly.
:Ah, so I'm not the only one pleased with the arrangement?:
:No, I can't talk to Ralph, it is expressly forbidden!:
:By whom?:
:My mission statement!: I wailed.
:You have a mission statement?: Elsa asked incredulously.
:Not really, more a list of goals and restrictions. Businesses have them why not companions?:
Elsa just laughed as I launched into an in depth description of it :You really are quite daft Asia, you know that right?:
:Of course, and I am proud of it. Now if Ralph wishes to talk to me you have to tell Barty that I can't, because of my mission statement:
:I will tell him no such thing!:
:Then I will just have to be rude and ignore everyone but you!:
:Asia, don't be difficult, Bartholomew and Ralph are going to help us track down the clan. That's why we got assigned them, Bartholomew had some tracking experience before he became a herald and he has an interest in the matter, apparently one of the places I saw destroyed belonged to a cousin of his:
:I suppose, I won't dishonor you, or make Barty think badly of you, but I won't break my mission statement either:
:Thank you my little cloud: Elsa teased tenderly, it took me a moment to figure out cloud though. Oh, right, that would have been from my fever dream, I hadn't known I had actually broadcast that.
:Humph!: I snorted. I was far too excited for proper distain though. In two day we would finally start trying to stop the clan. Or at least finding out what they were doing.
As it turned out, when we left we were taking a circuit route in the general direction of the clan. I found by the time we passed through the palace walls and into the city of Haven that we were still on a training circuit, evil plundering bandits or no.
I had also been unpleasantly surprised that Elsa had little on her mind other than making puppy eyes at Bart, who in my humble opinion had the manners of a chipmunk, if I were to be generous. It actually only took me about four minutes to decide the best nickname for him was Barf, his voice was sickly sweet and no matter what he said it was delivered in a grating and patronizing tone. He would have rubbed me the wrong way even had we not been in competition for my chosen's attention.
To make matters worse Ralph kept trying to initiate conversation and I barely managed to scrape by with noncommittal noises and one word answers. He didn't seem to take the hint though. For that matter neither did his chosen, both yakked at us poor girls until I thought that both my mental and physical ears must be numbed. Of course Elsa just smiled blissfully and agreed with every word he said.
At that point I think Barf could have offered to kill us both and she would have volunteered to sharpen his knife for the deed. Well, maybe not quite the bad, besides, knives gave me the shivers. I had distinct memories of a previous death with a blade slashing my throat, extremely unpleasant sensation that.
:Elsa?: I tried to break through the mushy haze that seemed to have overtaken her mind, :Elsa help me out here, Ralph won't shut up!:
:Huh?:
:Ralph, you know, the big white cloud your friend is sitting on? This is your cloud, Asia talking … remember me?:
:Of course I do, little cloud, just don't rain on me okay?: from the tone of her voice it almost seemed she had forgotten me for a moment.
:Chosen …: I practically wailed.
:I'm talking to Bartholomew, Asia, I really didn't forget you; I'm just distracted:
:Bartholomew is such a mouthful, why don't you ask if he has a nickname?:
I sighed, it seemed she had opted to ignore her wise pony, but after a moment I heard her ask, "So what should I call you, Bart maybe?"
Barf, I thought grumpily, but decided against sharing it with my googely-eyed chosen. I doubted she would appreciate the humor.
"Actually my friends call me Mew, it's kind of silly, but it's better than my full name," Bartholomew responded with a slightly abashed grin. It appeared that my chosen wasn't the only one with a slight infatuation. Actually, with Ralph's continuous rambling it appeared I was the only one not affected. Good for the rest of them, I was quite insane enough as it was, and love seemed to drive the most sensible of creatures to foolishness.
Not that I was a bitter little cloud or anything. Mew, ha, he sounded like something a kitten might say. A troublesome kitten. If I continued with my prating and anti-love attitude this would be a long trip. Maybe talking to Ralph wouldn't kill me, maybe. If it did at least I would never have to talk to anyone again. Except that it was likely to be a painful and embarrassing death.
In fact I could just picture the gossip; you know Asia? Yes, the crazy companion, well she said the dumbest thing to Ralph, I mean can you imagine, Ralph! Anyway she actually started turning pinkish and then she started choking and she just dropped dead. Right there … okay so maybe it wasn't medically, or even physically possible, but it would probably happen to me anyway. Or worse, well I actually couldn't come up with anything much worse, but dying such a death would be just plain embarrassing.
:Asia? I asked you a question …: Ralph was saying.
:Huh? Oh what?: I replied intelligently, I was after all extremely intelligent, right and I am selling invisible ostriches for the low fee of a sack of gold if you believe that.
:I was wondering if you remembered playing mud tag when we were little?: Ralph repeated patiently. Ralph had always been patient, that's what made him fun.
:Oh, yeah sure, fun: I strung the words together, although they lacked any semblance of an actual sentence.
:Are you feeling alright?:
:Oh, yeah fine:
:So why are you talking so … weirdly?:
:What? Oh, well I meant to have Elsa tell you, but she refused. You see I have this mission statement, whereby I don't speak to my elders, or cute boys or strangers: oops, I hadn't meant to call him cute. He probably wouldn't pick up on it though …
:Cute am I?: so much for not picking up on it.
:Kind of: I hedged.
Ralph sent me a mental shrug :If you don't want to talk just say so:
:I suppose this trip will be boring if we ignore each other, especially with how nicely our chosens appear to be getting along:
:I agree entirely Asia, so, what do you know about the clan?:
As it turned out I actually did like talking to Ralph, and I didn't even die of embarrassment. I did however detail everything Elsa and I knew about the clan for him. We reached a way station by dark and by the time we arrived I had found that I was actually quite fond of Ralph, and I couldn't help feeling more optimistic about Barty after he procured some sugar for me when Elsa found her usual supply missing.
Relationships sorted out and a full day of exercise behind me, and many more stretched ahead I ate quickly and slept deeply.
A/N nice mildly mushy stuff…I suppose. Thanks to the wonderful reviewers who I absolutely adore. I actually make my friends come to the computer lab before school, after school and at lunch to check out fan fiction, mostly there's only time to read reviews, but there is also time to pitch my reviewer's stories to them (hint: if you review I can probably get you at least a few extra readers) of course that isn't bribery or anything…